Ilon Musk - about hardware improvement of people

The interview was filmed on the background of the assembly line for the assembly of Tesla cars with robots scurrying back and forth

Ilon Musk gave a great interview to his friend and soul mate Sam Altman from the innovative business incubator Y Combinator. Recall that last year Musk and Altman founded the non-profit organization OpenAI to create an open democratic (good) AI, which will save humanity from the emergence of a centralized (evil) AI. They both care about our future.

Ilon Musk immediately formulated three important tasks that humankind faces:
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1. Artificial Intelligence.
2. Genetics.
3. High-speed interface to the brain.

High-speed brain-computer bus

“At the moment, our brain is limited by the bandwidth of the interface,” said Ilon Musk. “We have digital tertiary“ extensions ”of personality in the form of communication via email, our computers, phones, applications. We are practically supermen. But at the same time, we are extremely limited in the bandwidth capacity of the interface between the cerebral cortex and the “tertiary” digital form of our personalities. ”

To overcome this limitation is one of the important tasks that science faces. People will reach a new level if they can efficiently process in the brain all the information that is now available in digital form, but does not enter the brain due to interface restrictions.

Unfortunately, information cannot immediately enter the brain in digital form, so that when developing a high-speed brain-computer bus, it is also necessary to solve the problem of transforming and preliminary interpreting the information.

According to Ilona Mask, the high-speed brain-computer bus must be compatible with the interface of the democratic open AI, which is developed by the OpenAI organization.

The fusion of the human brain with artificial intelligence Ilon Musk compares with how the cerebral cortex (mind) and the ancient limbic system, which controls the vegetative and somatic reactions, work together. Completely different structures have learned to work well together, and now no one even thinks to separate them, right? The same will be with the interface for connecting the human brain to AI. This is just a hardware improvement necessary for a more effective connection with our “digital personality”, which already exists de facto.

“And then a person becomes a symbiont in symbiosis with artificial intelligence,” explains Ilon Musk. “If this gets spread, if anyone can get such an interface, then we will simultaneously solve the control problem.” You will not have to worry about the appearance of some evil dictatorial AI, because we will all become a collective mind. This is the best way I can think of. ”

What young people do

Ilon Musk recalled his student years in the 1990s, when he was working on ionistors (ultra-capacitors) as energy carriers for future electric cars. But he decided not to prepare a Ph.D. thesis on this topic (that is, he decided not to receive a Ph.D. degree), because he was picked up by a wave of dot-coms. When this happened around, Ilon Mask could not stand aside - and he had to earn a multi-million dollar state on the general rise of the dot-com. There was simply no other way out, it was too easy, it was time.

Ilon Mask believes that the main principle for a young person in life is to be useful. Let not change the world, but the work and human activities must necessarily bring some benefit to others. To do this, you do not need to obtain a Ph.D degree, says Ilon Musk. Translated into our realities, it is not necessary to go to graduate school and write a candidate. "Some need, but in most cases - no," - says Ilon.

The young man just needs to think about where he will bring the most benefit. This can be a big benefit for several people, an average benefit for an average number of people, or a small benefit for a large number of people. In general, you should roughly calculate the cumulative benefits that you can bring, and on this basis, make a choice.

Ilon Musk recalls that technological progress and the movement of humanity forward are possible only if a large number of smart people like the crazy will work hard to make the world a better place. If this does not happen, then entropy plays against us. As the Egyptian civilization has forgotten how to build pyramids and read hieroglyphs. As the Romans have forgotten how to build aqueducts and plumbing. As engineers of the aerospace industry of the 21st century, they have forgotten how to build heavy rockets that deliver a man to the moon, and then abandoned reusable space shuttles. If a large number of smart people like crazy do not work hard, then there will be a rapid technical degradation.

We must have determination.

Ilon Mask said that his decisive actions are not at all explained by the lack of fear, but by his great self-righteousness and the importance of his work. You know you just have to do it, despite the fear.

Sometimes fatalism helps. As in the case of SpaceX. With the foundation of this company, Ilon Musk was almost certain that the company would fail, and initially accepted it. He thinks the same about Tesla.

Colony on mars

But about the colony of people on Mars, the American visionary is much more optimistic. The chances of success of this mission are very high, if everything goes according to plan: “I must be sure that SpaceX will not go bankrupt between the present moment and the Martian mission. That I won't die. Or if I die, someone will take my place and continue the work. ”

Sam Altman joked that he wanted to fly to Mars, but he was confused by the big ping to Earth - it would be difficult to work on the Internet. Ilon Musk assured him that the ping is not so big: only 4 light minutes at the closest approach, and a maximum of 20 when the Earth and Mars are on opposite sides of the Sun (although there will be a period of time when the connection is interrupted due to interference).

Daily routine Ilona Mask

The American entrepreneur has denied rumors that he spends a lot of time on business, on communicating with the press and media. It turns out no. In fact, 80% of his personal time is devoted to technical issues - engineering and design. For example, in SpaceX rockets, he knows every technical detail and understands all the details. This is a big rarity for the head of any technical company.

The president of SpaceX, Gwyn Shotwell, is responsible for sales, finance, legal, and general business. And Ilon Musk himself sits all day with engineers, improving the Falcon 9 rocket, the Dragon spacecraft and the design of the Martian base for colonists. In Tesla, he also has a lot of work, because the future Gigafabrika should become a “machine for the production of machines”, and this is two orders of magnitude more difficult than just creating a new machine. There will be a much higher level of automation than at the current Tesla plant. Although now there are many robots that constantly moved behind Ilona Mask during the interview.

Now the conveyor with cars S and X (it is visible at the bottom of the frame) moves at a speed of 5 centimeters per second. Ilon Mask wants the pipeline to be at least 1 meter per second at a new plant, that is, like a slow walker. Ideally, you need to strive for the speed of movement of the fastest person - 10 meters per second, said Musk.

Interview Ilona Mask